@Marp wrote:
@Topaz Gem wrote:
@Marp wrote:
I am neither foolish nor naive but to condemn more than a billion people because of their religious belief or half a billion people because of where they came from, along with who knows how many others of "middle eastern" descent that live outside the ME is beyond absurd.
Are we to be equally afraid of people from around the world, including those from the U.S. and our European ally countries, that convert to Islam in a given year (estimated to be over 5,000 a year in Briton alone)?
If we continue to look at every man, woman and child that are followers of Islam and/or every man, woman and child whose heritage is "middle eastern" as a terrorist and treat them as such we are legitimizing what the extremists are using as part of their recruitment arsenal.
All Muslims and all middle easterners are not the enemy. The true enemy is a relatively small group of fanatics that has been remarkably successful in recruiting followers.
Our worries would be better placed trying to figure out why they are so successful and fix the underlying problems than ignoring the cause and condemning everyone that fits a particular profile.
Honestly, Marp, I don't know anyone who condemns ALL Muslims. Most of us in the working world work with a very diverse population and many of us have friends of the Muslim faith.
But like in the San Bernadino tragedy, the victims worked alongside this Muslim man for 5 years, yet he turned on them in an instant. This is why people are skeptical, Marp. It's not bigotry, but how could you work alongside someone, go to lunch with them, work on projects, give the couple baby shower gifts, then at a holiday party, watch him re-enter the room with a machine gun? How can you wrap your mind around such a thing? This is happening more and more and people don't know how to handle it.
One of the 9/11 terrorists was a friendly, neighborhood kind of guy that took all the neighborhood kids to soccer practice and to other activities. You'd think you could trust someone like that, right? For him to fly a plane into a building after that is inconceivable to most of us, yet this kind of thing happens over and over.
It's time we take this seriously.
Topaz, your points are well made and well taken in regard to working and living side-by-side with someone that turns out to be a mass murderer but the difference is that many, many people are condemning an entire population because of the actions of a few and that is a relatively new phenomenon.
When Sandy Hook occurred did people start fearing every young white male or looking at every young white male with suspicion? Did we do that after the Colorado theater shootings? Did we do that after OKC? No, we sought reasons and ways to prevent another occurrence but what we did not do was fear and cast aspersions and suspicion on a particular segment of society because while your friend, neighbor or coworker appears to be "perfectly normal" they might go on a killing spree.
Why the change now? Why are we fearing an entire population instead of seeking answers to help prevent others from being radicalized? Why are we not looking at our own youth (with and without conversion) that are attempting to join ISIS or going to these countries to fight with ISIS?
There are no clear answers but I firmly believe that isolating and fearing and be suspicious of people just because of heritage or religion does nothing more than fan the flames of extremism.
Hi Marp. I'll answer your question as best I can. The reason why the change now, is because Sandy Hook, Timothy McVeigh, the Manson murders, Columbine, etc., were crimes by individuals, most likely mentally ill or anti-government nutcases. Every country has criminal behavior.
The mass killings such as 9/11, Paris, Boston Marathon bombings, Tunisia, Russian airplanes, San Bernadino, etc., are part of a religiously-motivated movement that is spreading across our planet like a cancer. They are all part of a common thread referred to as Muslim Extremism. That's why it is futile to be wary of every Caucasian man after Sandy Hook, Manson murders, and so on. IMO, they are two completely different events.
Marp, they TOLD us exactly what their goals were. World domination and the eradication of our life as we know it in the west. They told us they would attack and kill us. They told us that they would bomb our cities and towns. And they told us there would be mass killings. What many of us don't understand is why many of our leaders and citizens are completely ignoring what these people are saying. Why do people keep trying to sanitize it by claiming 'workplace violence' or other stupid excuses when we all know exactly what is going on? Their plans couldn't be more clear if they gave us a detailed roadmap and schedule, yet some still choose to keep their heads in the sand.
Sadly, I think there are going to have to be a lot more dead bodies before this country truly wakes up.
.
"Summer afternoon-summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language." ~Henry James
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